The high and mighties, whose deeds become legendary and heritage stays immortal, meet the Death itself, that actually should be neutral and equal for everyone, not as usual as other people. Their bodies die and rest in peace in burial vaults, made by the best architects, surrounded with amazing decorations and works of art. Sometimes those tombs are so massive, that may even be visible from the sattelite. There are ‘tomb’ and ‘masoleum‘ categories on Wikimapia that include more than 2400 places today. Let's see the most famous and majestic of them and check if they need any edition or data adding.

First, that may accure to you when speaking about tombs is the famous Giza Necropolis, on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. This ancient Egyptian complex consists of the Great Pyramid of Giza (tomb of the Egyptian pharaoh Khufu or Cheops), the Pyramid of Khafre, the Pyramid of Menkaure, the Great Sphinx statue and several other smaller satellite pyramids.The Great Pyramid of Giza is the only surviving member of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Needless to say, it is an amazing work of engineer, the Great Pyramid of Giza is the largest of the ancient Egyptian pyramids. Originally standing 146.6 m high, it is now 138.8 m high due to erosion, trophy hunting, and vandalism. Thousands years after the pyramids were built they still admire attention and attcract millions of tourists as one if the most mysterious places in the world.

Another great burial vault is Taj Mahal in the city of Agra, India, ordered to build by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. In 1631, Shah Jahan, the emperor was grief-stricken when his beloved third wife died during the birth of their fourteenth child, Gauhara Begum. Construction of the Taj Mahal began in 1632, one year after her death. The court chronicles of Shah Jahan's grief illustrate the love story traditionally thought of as an inspiration for Taj Mahal.The Taj Mahal is considered to be the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Islamic, Indian and Persian architectural styles.

The Mausoleum of Hadrian, usually known as the Castel Sant'Angelo, is a towering cylindrical building in Rome, Vatican city, initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his family. The building was later used as a fortress and castle, and is now a museum. The tomb of the Roman emperor Hadrian was erected on the right bank of the Tiber, between 135 and 139. Originally the mausoleum was a decorated cylinder, with a garden top and golden quadriga. Hadrian's ashes were placed here a year after his death in Baiae in 138, together with those of his wife Sabina, and his first adopted son, Lucius Aelius, who also died in 138. Following this, the remains of succeeding emperors were also placed here, the last recorded deposition being Caracalla in 217.

Tomb of Cyrus the Great in Iran, Pasargadae, in the area of ancient Persia, is believed to be the tomb of one of the most notable king of Persia – King Cyrus the Great. It is today an archeological site and one of only five of Iran’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Cyrus the Great, or Cyrus II of Persia, was a Persian Shahenshah (or Emperor), who founded of the Persian Empire under the Achaemenid dynasty. This empire thence expanded under his rule, as Cyrus eventually conquered the majority of Southwest Asia as well as much of Central Asia, from Egypt and the Hellespont to the Indus River in the east, to create the most expansive nation the world had seen up until that era.The Mausoleum is said to be the oldest base-isolated structure in the world, meaning it is resilient to seismic hazards.

Mausoleum of Emperor Qin Shi Huang and nearby pit of the Terracotta Warriors, buried with the First Emperor of Qin, are famous from all over the world. Emperor Qin Shi Huang believed that these terracotta army would enable him to rule another empire in the afterlife. Both mausoleum and the army are a unique architectural ensemble whose layout echoes the urban plan of the capital, Xianyang, with the Imperial Palace enclosed by the walls of the city, themselves encircled by other walls. The mausoleum is also associated with an event of universal significance: the first unification of the Chinese territory in a centralized state created by an absolute monarch, in 221 BC.Terracota Army consists of about 8,000 life-like and life-sized statues of soldiers with their horses, chariots and weapons. Looks like Qin Shi Huangdi might really have become the Emperor of the afterlife with such magnificent troops.

Terracotta Warriors

The lords of the ancient world were not the only, whose ashes rest in peace in a glorious burial vaults. Revolution leaders of the Contemporary history, who inspired the masses and managed to dethrone the governments, are also buried unusual.

Lenin’s Tomb on Red Square, Moscow, Russia is probably the most discrepant place in our list. It serves as the final resting place for Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. Lenin's preserved body has been on public display here since his death in 1924. And disputes about that fact are still happening from time to time.Aleksey Shchusev's granite structure incorporates some elements from ancient mausoleums, such as the Tomb of Cyrus the Great.

The Che Guevara Mausoleum (Mausoleo Che Guevara) is a memorial in Santa Clara, Cuba. It houses the remains of executed Marxist revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara and twenty-nine of his fellow combatants killed in 1967 during Guevara's attempt to spur an armed uprising in Bolivia. The full area which contains a bronze 22 foot statue of Che is referred to as the Ernesto Guevara Sculptural Complex. Guevara was laid to rest with full military honors on 17 October 1997 after his exhumed remains were discovered in Bolivia and returned to Cuba. At the site, there is a museum dedicated to Guevara's life and an eternal flame lit by Fidel Castro in Che's memory.

The Che Guevara Mausoleum

Most part of burial vaults of great people are still not as massive as previous examples, or, at least, their tombs are grouped in one special and magnificent place. Like Westminster Abbey.

Westminster Abbey is a mainly Gothic church, on the scale of a cathedral, in Westminster, London. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English, later British and later still (and currently) monarchs of the Commonwealth realms. Honouring individuals with Burials and Memorials in Westminster Abbey has a long tradition. Henry III rebuilt Westminster Abbey in honour of the Royal Saint Edward the Confessor whose relics were placed in a burial vault in front of the High Altar. Henry III himself was interred nearby in a superb chest tomb with effigial monument. Many of the Plantagenet kings of England, their wives and other relatives, most Kings and Queens of England From the time of Edward the Confessor until the death of George II were buried in the Abbey as well. Since the Middle Ages, aristocrats (the first one was Geoffrey Chaucer), poets, writers and musicians were buried or memorialised around Chaucer in what became known as Poets' Corner. In this part of the chapel you may find tombs of W. H. Auden, William Blake, Robert Burns, Lord Byron, Charles d***, John Dryden, George Eliot, T. S. Eliot, and many other dignified man. Subsequently it became one of Britain's most significant honours to be buried or commemorated here. The practice of burying national figures in the Abbey began under Oliver Cromwell with the burial of Admiral Robert Blake in 1657. The practice spread to include generals, admirals, politicians, doctors and scientists such as Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin. In the floor just inside the great west door, in the centre of the nave, is the tomb of The Unknown Warrior, an unidentified British soldier killed on a European battlefield during the First World War.

Père-Lachaise Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the city of Paris, France and one of the most famous and most-visited in the world, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors annually to the graves of those who have enhanced French life over the past 200 years. Here are the tombs of Molière, Frédéric Chopin, Honoré de Balzac, Amedeo Modigliani, Guillaume Apollinaire, Oscar Wilde, Gertrude Stein, Jim Morrison and many other great man. It is also the site of five Great War memorials. The gravesites at Père Lachaise range from a simple, unadorned headstone to towering monuments and even elaborate mini chapels dedicated to the memory of a well-known person or family.

Sedlec Ossuary does not actually fit to our list, as you won't find any great man relics here. Though the place is so unusual, that we can not leave it unnoticed, speaking about most amazing burial vaults. This small Roman Catholic chapel is located in Sedlec, a suburb of Kutná Hora, Czech Republic. What is amazing about it is that the ossuary contains approximately 40,000-70,000 human skeletons which have been artistically arranged to form decorations and furnishings for the chapel. The history of church and ossuary is also unusual. You may read the details in its description on Wikimapia.

Sedlec Ossuary

Such evidences of grandeur as magnificent tombs immortalize the memory of those, whose bodies rest there. We on Wikimapia are interested in tagging such places a lot, since those burial vaults have a great value as works of art and information sources. We are pleased to see, that thanks to our users lots of such historical memorials are already tagged on Wikimapia, and we encourage you to pay more attention to the places of such a high significance for all mankind. By adding more information of better quality to these popular place descriptions you improve Wikimapia data a lot. Tagging places of such importance you create something more than a regular Wikimapia tag, you are involved in discovering and immortalizing those memorials in web space. So you might be the one, who'll help others to learn more about the World and choose what places to visit. And that is what your project about - helping people to explore the world!